Naming STEM Academy after George Washington Carver fulfills 40-year promise

More than a promise

The article entitled, “Carter G. Woodson Prep Academy has a new name. See which choice prevailed,” published on Dec. 6, minimizes the person for whom the academy is being renamed – George Washington Carver. Carver was more than “a Black American scientist who died in the 1940’s.” Also, the recommendation was more than the fulfillment of a 40-year promise “that when new schools were reopened, they would be named after segregated schools that closed …”

At the Nov.1 Equity Council Committee meeting during the time of public comment, Dr. Roszalyn Akins provided a compelling argument for naming the academy after Carver. She mentioned that Carver was the first African-American to get a science degree and a master’s degree in science in the United States. Carver developed the science program at Tuskegee Institute and was the first African-American faculty member at Iowa State University, his alma mater. His inventions made from peanuts and sweet potatoes, the results of rotating crops to enrich the soil that was damaged by growing cotton, resulted in significant financial gains in a society that found it illegal to have free labor.

For an infant, who was human trafficked during his first week of life and sold as a slave in Kentucky, to become an agricultural scientist and an inventor is an amazing feat. George Washington Carver was, “one of the greatest African-American scientists of all times,” as stated by Dr. Akins. In a school district whose Equity Council Committee works tirelessly to advocate for achievement of all students in an environment that sometimes seems hopeless, the naming of the George Washington Carver STEM Academy is more than a promise. It is providential for such a time as this.

Camisha Powell, M. Ed., FCPS Equity Council Committee, Chair, Lexington

Pet obituaries

I am writing you with an idea that might seem like blasphemy to some, but a godsend to others.

Facebook has shown me how much people grieve when they lose a much loved pet. People express that losing their pet as almost as bad as losing a member of the family. For many, that pet is the only family they have. Society does not treat the loss of a pet with the gravity it deserves. We are frequently told, “get over it.”

There are many people that may never understand the bond a person can have with their pet, but many do and suffer in silence because they do not feel free to express their grief. To that end, would the Herald-Leader ever consider an obituary page for pet owners to tell everyone what a wonderful pet they had and how much they will miss them? Just an idea for your consideration.

Pat Nussbaum, Nicholasville

Barr’s hypocrisy

Just a few years ago, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) applauded the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision. He argued that a business should be free to deny reproductive health benefits to its employees based on the employer’s conservative religious ethic. Now Barr is attacking forward-looking financial companies like BlackRock, who offer non-polluting investment portfolios based on their progressive environmental ethic. Apparently, Barr supports corporate ethics only when they align with his own party’s political interests.

Rob Kingsolver, Louisville

Hats off

I’ve been reading reports of the Chris Stapleton concerts. They must have been great! I only wonder why Chris is always wearing a cowboy hat. It makes some sense at Kroger Field, but male country music singers wear cowboy hats at Rupp Arena and other indoor venues, even though Chris Bailey says there’s little chance of rain or wind inside. And why such beat up hats? These fellows can afford much better. Most female singers don’t wear cowboy hats; some don’t wear much else.

I notice that country music singers are called artists. Back when folks knew the difference between the truth and a lie and voted for politicians who cared about right and wrong, the word artist meant someone who paints nice pictures. Funny, but I’ve never seen a picture of Monet with a cowboy hat; though he did spend a lot of time outdoors.

Now-a-days, I guess artist refers to anyone who’s really good at what they do. It may not necessarily apply to them, but a picture of the Supreme Court all wearing cowboy hats would be nice. If country music artists really want to emulate cowboys they should come on stage riding a horse. Our Kentucky General Assembly could draft an amendment to the state constitution requiring just that. After all, those fussbuddies are artists at horsin’ around; and our mellifluous U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell has a “neigh” for just about everything.”

Ernie Henninger, Harrodsburg

Pronoun policing

George Orwell is quoted as writing, “Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”

So it goes with the pronoun police that infest once great universities, as well as primary and secondary schools and school boards around the country. These eager merchants of guilt, envy and deception look down upon what they consider an inferior gaggle of geese posing as everyday hardworking Americans and just go “Tsk, tsk.”

But those of us who still think Americans are the greatest (except for Orwell’s above mentioned) know some astonishing truths. Among them:

Boys are not girls.

Girls are not boys.

Men are not wives.

Women are not husbands.

Those who genuflect at the altar that think otherwise need to, well, grow the hell up.

Wayne Burns, Lexington

Horse justice

One would believe that a state claiming to elevate a love for horses would covet the lives of these innocent creatures by having developed animal rights laws that contain the necessary legal verbiage to do so.

WRONG!

My brother-in-law, who suffers from Hoarders Disorder, doesn’t have the mental capacity to let go of anything. This didn’t matter when he was indicted on animal cruelty and negligence charges stemming from the fact that he abandoned two horses he owned, in order to pursue his girlfriend who had moved to another state. After being fined by the Judge, both horses were left in his care.

Yes, the Judge knew of his mental illness!

After suffering the court’s decision for a year now, one of the two horses died. Animal Control officers have the confirmation they needed to investigate the matter in which the horse died. While we wait, a beautiful, innocent horse suffers at the hands of a mentally Ill man, and a Judge failed to strengthen the laws that would protect the animals, leaving the one mate to endure loneliness, and loss, on the farm where he stands…waiting!

Claudia Green, Lexington

“What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

That was former President Donald Trump’s answer to a reporter when asked about the possibility of being formally charged and possibly indicted for crimes against the United States Government. It was the most sensible statement I’ve heard over the past six years coming from Donald Trump.

That statement says a lot about Trumps present state of mind. He’s scared. I can feel it. The Trump empire is slowly crumbling before our eyes. It seems as though the wind got knocked out of his sails. His inflated ego is slowly but surely deflating.

Trump reminds me of a spoiled rotten (mean and nasty rotten) child whose parents made him or her believe they could do no wrong. Fast forward to adulthood. Now they’ve become difficult to deal with and downright mean.

Trump should never have run for president. By doing so he put his whole entire life out there, good and bad. His companies have been convicted of tax fraud. Everybody is suing him because they’re trying to be paid for work they did for him years ago. Trump is coming to terms with the fact that he might end up in prison.

Yolanda Averette, Lexington

Compiled by Liz Carey